Cool trousers (part 2)

For all you youngsters with sagging pants:

Cool trousers

Sagging pants are SO last year........

New Year Landmarks

I always try and go for a run on the bike on New Year's Day (weather permitting) as it feels like a 'proper' start to the year. Also, mr combo had posted his 'Landmarks' photos, a collection of photos of his bikes alongside a number of landmarks from a list he posted at the start of last year.
To be honest, I'd actually forgotten about this until he's posted his pictures, so decided to combine the 'Landmarks' and my New Year ride. So it was up early (one of the advantages of not drinking - I can get up early on New Year's Day!), and out on a cold, wet, and dark morning to take some photos (note some of them needed flash - it was that dark!

No. 1:  a castle

Newark Castle, Port Glasgow

No. 2: a telephone box

(do I get an extra point for including a postbox as well?)

No. 3: a postbox

No. 4: a flag (or two)

No. 5: an animal

No. 6: a bridge

(Actually a bridge, in a Bridge, next to a bridge - the bike is on a bridge over a river, in the town of Bridge of Weir, with an old railway bridge in the background)

No. 7: a body of water

(in this case, a body of water that shouldn't be there. It's a flooded field, what'll happen if the water gets as high as the electrical building below the mast?)

No. 8: a religious building

No. 9: a barber shop

(this is my friend Jane's shop)

No. 10: a salvage yard

(this one does architectural salvage - note the strange model 'mouse'!)

No. 11: a railway station

Wemyss Bay Station

(look at the ironwork inside!)

No. 12: a sports ground

(Inverkip Bowling Club)

No. 13: a boat

(The Comet)

(details)

No. 14: graffiti

(sorry this so poor but I really struggled to find any. Seems to gone out of fashion)

No. 15: a statue

No. 16: rust

(will have to stick some paint on that!)

No. 17: rain

(could have used any of the other photos!)

No. 18: a petrol pump

No. 19: a roadsign

(another of Scotland's pointless bilingual roadsigns. How many people in Greenock speak Gaelic? Any? Certainly far fewer than speak Polish, Urdu or Cantonese, so why aren't there signs in those languages?)

No. 20: a memorial

(Free French Navy memorial, Greenock)

(detail)

 I really enjoyed going out to take these photos as it gave my New Year's Day ride more of a purpose. Another one for this year?

Round up of 2012

2012 has been an interesting and varied year for me. Going back to January, the highlight was buying my Honda CL350 'project'.

One of those bikes that I've always wanted, and when one turned up at the right price, I couldn't resist. I'd hoped to have it back on the road by now, but other things have cropped up and I really just haven't had time. Next year... honestly...

First real event of the year was the IFA Day in April. A good chance to meet up with people at the Bus Museum.

Next up was our trip to France for the Coupes Moto Legende. The first time I'd managed abroad on the bike for a few years, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Even ending up in France by myself for nearly a week wasn't a problem and I got to ride on lots of good roads. Another trip to France next year is already at the planning stage – more later.

July saw a return to France, unfortunately without the bike, for the Etape du Tour. This involved a LOT of driving on mountain roads in an unfamiliar van, but I did see lots of places I intend to revisit on the bike.

I had been planning a two week trip on the bike at the start of September. My plan was to ride to the south Coast, get the ferry to France, and ride the length of the Pyrenees taking in the high passes. Based on the 'Raid Pyrenean' cycle route.

After that I'd planned on spending a couple of days in Barcelona, then making my way back through France taking in the Gorges d'Ardeche and the Massif Central.

Unfortunately, at this point things go so bad at work that I had to leave. The situation had been going steadily downhill for a year or so, and looking back, I'm surprised I stuck it as long as I did.

I'd started applying for other jobs, so cancelled the holiday in case a prospective employer wanted to contact me. As it turned out, no-one did and I could have gone. Oh well, the Pyrenees will have to wait for another day!

This meant that I was now unemployed for the first time in 35 years, so cut back on what I was spending on bikes while I looked for another job. On the positive side, it gave me more time to get work done, and as I write this I've nearly got my white Traveller rebuilt and back on the road (I'll write an article about that later), and I'll soon be starting on the Honda.

Round about this time a group of us started having 'breakfast runs' at Brig O'Turk and the

Riverside Museum. Hopefully these will continue next year when the weather improves.

And that's basically it for this year. I hope you all have a good time over New Year, and I'll post soon about my plans for 2013.

Friday bike

This one's been doing the rounds, so I thought I'd feature it.

Lit Motors C-1

'Two wheeled cars' have been built before, the Ecomobile being the most famous. However, the C-1's unique selling point is that it stays upright when stopped without outrigger wheels. It acheives this by having rotating flywheels built into the floor to give a gyroscope effect.
Here's a couple of videos that explain it better:

Interesting idea, but like most designs like this, will probably be extremely rare due to high price and customer resistance to 'something weird'. More on the company website, but whether we ever see one on the road remains to be seen.

Return of a Friday bike

Some time ago, (OK, I'm too lazy to look back), I featured the NVT Tracker as my Friday bike. This was an attempt by Norton Villiers Triumph to enter the small trail bike market with a Yamaha DT 125/175 engined model. Very rare (I've never seen one), so it was a surprise to see not one, but two currently for sale on British Ebay.

First bike is a 175, an indication of how few there were, this one's frame number is 42! Link.

The other one is  a restored 125:

Link.

Bad News

As no doubt television over the Christmas period is rubbish (as usual), here a gem from the past. When Channel 4 started in the UK, they put together 'The Comic Strip', an eclectic collection of young comedians and writers to produce a number or series of comedy shows. The outcome was a bit 'hit or miss', but it launched many successful careers, and this was one of the best episodes. Unavailable for a long time, it's now on YouTube, and I hope it's not restricted to UK only. Being Channel 4, there's lots of adverts at the beginning, but it's worth the wait.

The Bad News Tour

Historical note: This was first broadcast in the UK on 24th January 1983, This is Spinal Tap was first shown on 2nd March 1984. Hmmmm.

A few years later, a follow up was broadcast.

More Bad News